Medical Encyclopedia
Umbilical hernia repair - series: Normal anatomy
The umbilicus ("belly button") is in the center of the lower abdomen. It is the site through which vessels which provide nutrients to the fetus from the mother during development penetrate the fetal abdominal wall.
Update Date: 11/2/2007
Updated by: Deirdre O'Reilly, M.D., M.P.H., Neonatologist, Division of Newborn Medicine, Children's Hospital Boston and Instructor in Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
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